Production Designer Confirms Tatooine Was Part of Planned Star Wars Spin-Off Film

The upcoming slate of the Star Wars saga is full of ambiguity, with the only confirmed project with a release date being Episode IX, which is currently shooting and will hit theaters in December of next year. One of Lucasfilm's production designers, Neil Lamont, claims he and his team had begun working on crafting a Tatooine set for an undisclosed spin-off, which could have been used for a number of possible projects.

"We were just starting our work on another Star Wars spin-off and yeah. We were actually just making our mark on Tatooine -- which would have been interesting and some other new galaxies," Lamont shared with CinemaBlend. "So hopefully, if that comes back, we'll get the chance to be able to do that further."

This information may only complicate matters further about what to expect from Lucasfilm, as Tatooine played a role in not just the original trilogy, by also the prequel trilogy, linking the location to a variety of characters.

Between the Special Edition release of A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, Boba Fett paid a few visits to the desert planet, with this Tatooine set possibly having been tied to his film. Since the release of Revenge of the Sith, audiences have wondered how Obi-Wan Kenobi spent his time in seclusion before reemerging as Luke Skywalker's mentor. Development of Tatooine could have possibly been for this rumored Obi-Wan spinoff.

Yet another report from earlier this year claimed production had begun on a film that focused specifically on the Mos Eisley Spaceport, which could have been a chance to feature both Boba Fett and Obi-Wan without either character having to be the sole protagonist.

"After speaking to a few more Pinewood sources, it sounds like there was going to be a movie or a premise along the lines of Mos Eisley Spaceport: A Star Wars Story (not an official title). Crew members of the previous Star Wars film said they believed the other movie was about the spaceport Luke Skywalker goes into the original film," Making Star Wars reported. "In other words, my sources are saying this movie we never even heard about was canned or postponed and it does not mean the Obi-Wan Kenobi and Boba Fett films are doomed."

Luckily for fans, following Episode IX, we can still expect a trilogy of films being developed by The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson, new films from Game of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and a live-action TV series being developed by Jon Favreau.

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